Page:Harold Lamb--The House of the Falcon.djvu/165

  down at the end there is nothing more than the village meeting house in spite of its being so carefully camouflaged, and in spite of the fact that practically all the men and women of this quite ordinary place spend hours there every day?"

"It's my fault that I'm so bally poor at explaining. Quite right. That's the church, and everybody except the kuls and the guards" he broke off hastily. "Everybody, that is, of the Sayak creed is there. Otherwise, you would have to put on your veil, and I would be most unhappy."

Just a little her frown unbent, and then tightened. She would not let him change the subject again. Edith was accustomed to find out what she wanted to know.

"You are not nice, at all. I want to know what that mosque really is and why there are guards here. Oh, I heard you."

At this, the mask of moodiness fell over the man's lined face. He surveyed the still surface of the lake in silence. And when he spoke, he seemed communing with himself again.

"The mosque? Yes, that's the trouble, the mosque. It's better, far better that you should not know all about that. I want you not to know. It's your best chance. Iskander and the rest won't say anything. Aravang can't—much. By the way, that fellow will serve you faithfully. He worships you, as—many do.'

Edith went straight to the point of this. Her inborn sincerity yearned for plain words of truth; likewise she wanted him to have confidence in her.

"Why don't you want me to know?"

"Because," he observed slowly, "I know. That's the reason I'm here. Not that I blame them. After